Jack Balkin, "A Body of Inquiries"

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Jack Balkin, "A Body of Inquiries"

GC: We should have a truth commission and institutional reforms rather than a criminal investigation of high ranking Bush administration officials who might have approved torture policies and illegal treatment of detainees.

IC: We should have a truth commission to document abuses of power by high ranking Bush administration officials.

P1: Truth commissions would show our committment to human rights.

P2: Truth commissions would counteract the tendency toward secret laws.

P3: Truth commissions would create a public record of the misconduct.

IC: The South African model for truth and reconciliation is not the right one for us.

P1: South Africa's experience of apartheid involved human right violations against the population and needed to reconcile tensions between groups and among individuals.

P2: Our experience with the torture cases does not involve these features.

IC: We should not pursue criminal prosecution of abuses of power by high ranking Bush administration officials.

IIC: The barriers to prosecution are too great.

P1: Bush officials used the Justice Department's legal advice so they might be able to claim immunity.

P2: Bush officials might be able to claim immunity from the Military Commissions Act of 2006.

IC: We should reform the Justice Department and military rules and policies related to torture and immunity.